Page 3 Advertisements Column 2

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 42, 18 February 1908, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS. HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE. "THE MUMMY AND THE HUMMING BIRD. ReUity ii always worth waiting' for, and perhaps it would be less esteemed but for the long intervals between pieces that have even the slightest claim to resemble life. Without State or municipal theatres the English-speaking world is especially badly off for modern high comedy—the art-form not only in itself the most satisfying to the di-seriminating playgoer, but the best suited to advanced and self-critical conditions of society. We have, therefore, to trust to a handful of public-spirited and idealistic managers and actors to give us what the Frenchman and the German get as a constant and inalienable right. The name 3 of Mr. Brough and , Mr. Flemming are among those most honoured for work in this direction; and probably few men in any artistic calling have done more for the intellectual raising of the people of Australasia than these two champions of the realistic comedy. At the same time it has onlj' been the most obtuse and irresponsive of playgoers that have failed to derive keen enjoyment from the most delightful medicine ever offered for the cure of a deficient critical palate. "The Mummy and the Humming-Bird " is the best speaking play seen here for twelve months past, but after saying that—and it is surely not quite a a churlish compliment—there is plenty of room for censure in detail. The author flirts with melodrama, varies a brilliant dialogue with occasional lapses into stereotype (such as Lady Lumley's reconciliation with "My Knight"), and hinges his main development upon a monstrous coincidence. On the other hand his constructive power at its best is colossal; and Act a, in which Lord Lumley plays with D'Orelli as a cat with a mouse, gives the neatest piece of developmental dovetailing seen here for a long, long time. There is hardly need to repeat a plot which has been detailed already in these columns. L-ord 'Lumley (the scientific " Mummy"), Signor D'Orelli (the villainous "hummingbird"), Lady Lumley (the neglected wife), and Giuseppe, the avenging spirit from the humming-bird's evil past—the imagination will fill in the relations of these characters to the main story of the piece. But with such materials Mr. Isaac Henderson might have written the fiattest of dull comedies or the nakedest of melodramas. His ingenuity saves him from either extreme, while it gives the action an absorbing interest. Tlie organgrinder Giuseppe's story of D'Orelli's past is conveyed to the scientist nu.sband t)y a most clever system ol pantomime, which is afterwards used to fine purpose in the outwitting of that adroit personage; and in D'Orelli's rooms Lumley saves not only his wife, but her reputation, by a series of conversational devices of quite extraordinary brilliancy. The acting of the present company was delightful in its naturalness, its restraint and its fine unconsciousness. Mr. Herbert Flemming played the abstracted scientist and his awakening with splendid artistic power. Every vocal inflection, every gesture seemed inevitable and part of the actual personality of the man pourtrayed. Even Mr. Flemming's habit of hesitation, of conveying the sense that the word is following the thought, is made to contribute towards the general credibility. Nothing is more impressive On the stage than great restraint in a desperate situation; and nothing could have been more impressive than Lord Lumley's restraint as he smilingly baffles D'Orelli in the midst of his abominable intrigue. Once only ho loses his selfcontrol, and then again Mr. Flemming vras immense. Miss Beatrice Day is an actress who has already made herself a name for fine realistic acting that conceals its splendid strength in the seeming simplicity of its realism. Throughout Lady Lumley lived a real and actual life, with all its everyday accents and absence of " storm and stress" even amidst tragedy, until the moment when she, too, for a brief moment, can no longer endure, and the sense of suffering ■" whispers the o'eriraught heart, and bids it break." But how natural, how decent was her weeping! D'Orelli was taken with fine suavity by Mr. A. S. Homewood : Mr. H. W. Varna was splendid in his difficult work as the organ-grinder Guiseppe in the first act. and sound thereafter; Mr. Mallalien did very fair justice to the cleverly-written part of Lord Ronalds; and Miss Elsie Clarens was a respectable, but not a striking Ruth Thornton. Among the minor parts must be mentioned the very convincing butler Judson, of Mr. Winter Hall. The play includes no less than four set scenes, of which tllree were splendidly mounted. A delightful production which should on no account be missed. AQTTATICS. jr -yiCTORIA CRUISING CLUiJ— /j&K The Second Series of Cruising Races "chat were to be held on Saturday, Feibruary 22nd. have been Postponed, owing to the Premier Picnic being held on that date.—F. J. BRiDT, Hon. Sec. SO -VTORTH SHC)RE YACHT fek CLUB. Jjfii&fc, RACE TO WAIWBBA. FEB. 22. Entries for above, open to all Classes, will Close at Council Chambers, North Shore. TO-MORROW (WEDNESDAY), at 9 p.m.. or at Mr Wilkinson's Office at 5.30 p.m. Four prizes, entry 2/6. W. SIXTOX, Hon. Sec. PICNICS AND EXCURSIONS. Mjl/TANCHESTER TTNITY /ODDFELLOWS' TpEEIIIER -piCNIC. ■a/TOTUTAPU. SATURDAY, XpEBRUARY 22 ND " THE LARGEST MABINE OUTING IN THE DOMINION. STEAMERS FROM EVERYWHERE. Excursionists rrom Auckland. Thames, Paeroa. Karaiigahake, Waihi, Waikino, Waitekauri, Tβ Aroha, Warkworth, Coromandel, Honick, Panmure, and Turanga Creek. Ferry Fleet will leave Auckland at 9 a.m.. 9.30 a.m., 10 a.m., 12.30 p.m., 1 p.m., 1.30 p.m.. and 2 p.m. Extra Boats home. Auckland Adult Return Tickets, 1/8 each. Children 6d. SHIPPING. -jC* TT' ° R X A I P A R A. DELIVERING CARGO AT TE KOFTJBU. The barque CASABLANCA Will receive Cargo at Hallway Wtarf on WEDNESDAY, 19th inst. AIT freights to Be prepaid." T. HENDERSON, JEndean's Buildings.